Country plans to set up IT firm employing women only

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December 20, 2016 3:14 PM

A report said that the firm would mainly target females specialised in the IT sector.

Women rest after casting their votes at a polling station during municipal elections, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 12, 2015.

Two Saudi ministries are negotiating the formation of a women-only information technology firm to open up new sectors for female job seekers, a media report said on Tuesday.

The report said that the firm would mainly target females specialised in the IT sector.

However, the project that is adopted by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and the Labour Ministry, is part of a plan to localise the communication sector.

“The firm is the second phase of the plan, as the labour ministry has concluded the first phase of localising mobile phone selling and repairing jobs,’’ it added.

The General Authority for Statistics highlighted that the unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2016 reached 5.7 per cent.

Shoura Consultative Council member, Dr Saeed Al Shaikh, said that the firm would open up new job opportunities for women and reduce the unemployment rate among female locals.

Besides the firm the government has launched distance job scheme to allow women to take up more employment opportunities, in the conservative state that bans them from driving or work with men in the same offices.

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